When was the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt? Or the last time you truly enjoyed being tickled? When does the transition happen that we start to get annoyed when we are tickled? When we are babies we practically ask for more because it is so much fun! Then at some point in our older childhood stages, we get annoyed at being tickled. Then, we realize that we shouldn’t be annoyed, so we try to appreciate it again, and we do. We never fully get back to the pure joy and happiness that we experienced as babies, though.
Yesterday, Caroline had her first taste of ice cream. She knew just what to do. Opened that big beautiful mouth, and even stuck her tongue out a bit! Put her hands out to grab the cone and smashed her face into it! The pure happiness that came over her face was indescribable! She wanted more and more and more!
Babies are so genuine with all of their emotions, and it is so refreshing. I wish we could all go back to feeling the way we felt when we were that young. The amazement that they feel when they are learning something new, the joy they exude when they see you for the first time in the morning, the sweetness they show when they give you a kiss, the excitement they show when they accomplish something, and on and on. It’s all the little things, all day long. It is such an amazing thing to be a part of as a mom.
What’s amazing, is that as parents, you suddenly feel this pure happiness again. It literally doesn’t matter what is going on…when you look at your baby, or your spouse, you feel such an amazingly pure sense of happiness come over you. Your baby literally makes you so happy – even in the moments you wouldn’t expect. I find myself so incredibly happy in odd moments! I hold Caroline on the toilet while she takes the most massive poop I think I’ve ever seen… it makes me SO happy! WHAT!??! But it does. I am proud of her for doing such a good job at such a gross thing. The gross things are no longer all that gross. I find myself eating food that she’s half chewed on and spit out. Those things just don’t matter any longer. She’s beautiful in her “worst” moments- I get it now. My family is my pure happiness.
I look at my husband and experience love that I never knew before. Every milestone we reach together, I realize how much more I love this amazing man. I thought I loved him when we were dating, then realized that I loved him even more than I thought was possible by the time we were engaged, and then the same thing happened over and over again through the years. I always think that there is no way I can love him more than I do today, and I am always wrong. When I see him with Caroline, the love I feel for him is immense.
Pure happiness. I hope I never lose this feeling. I hope that Caroline never forgets the joys that she knows today. She will keep us forever young. You learn to appreciate every single little joy as a parent. This is such a great gift that she’s given us.
I have to put two videos on here. Both are Brad paisley songs: “Then” and “Little moments”. These are such perfect songs to describe these amazing feelings!